In the modern family vehicle there is at least one rear seat and in most mini-vans and sport utility vehicles there is typically more than one rear seat. This additional room is frequently occupied by children. Drivers and the front seat passenger have found it difficult to monitor the activities of children in the rear seats. The added passenger room also makes it difficult for a driver or a front seat passenger to carry on a conversation with a rear seat passenger while trying to maintain some degree of eye contact.
Recognizing that the conventional rear view mirror does not provide a good solution to this problem, auto manufacturers began offering “conversation mirrors” which are separate from the conventional rear view mirror. The conversation mirror is usually mounted in the ceiling of the vehicle, either as a fixed component or as a component capable of folding into a ceiling-mounted console. While the conversation mirror does generally aid in maintaining eye contact between the driver or front seat passenger and the rear seat passenger, findings suggest that the most valuable feature of the conversation mirror is that the activities of rear-seat children can be monitored by parents seated in the front seats of the vehicle.
The known conversation mirror comes in two varieties. The first is the single adjustable conversation mirror that is generally small and is made with a relatively large radius of curvature, typically ˜150 mm. This type of mirror is adjusted for and used by only one front seat occupant at a time.
The second variety of known conversation mirrors uses a single, fixed spherical mirror of relatively small radius. While this design permits simultaneous usage by both front row occupants, the image produced has objectionable and pronounced foreshortening effects due to the variation in distance from the viewer to the different second row passengers.
The utility of both varieties is further compromised by their excessively wide field of view (FOV). This wide field of view produces overly-inclusive and thus unnecessary views as well as small images. Accordingly, as in so many areas of motor vehicle technology, there is room in the art of interior mirrors for advancement.